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Talk:Smells Like Teen Spirit/@comment-4003625-20140813113133
// the only thing I'm good at is talking about my favorite characters. this post contains spoilers for those not caught up on SNK manga // Before I began reading the manga of Shingeki No Kyojin, back when I exclusively watched the anime, I never considered Historia to be a favorite of mine. I liked her, yes. I thought she was a real cutie pie and she seemed like a sweetheart, but it never expanded beyond just that. However, after reading the manga, my view on her has done a full 180. She is far more than just that typical, Mary Sue-type character that I made her out to be in the beginning. Historia is, I've realized after reading the manga, one of the most complex and well-layered characters in Shingeki No Kyojin. First off, her personality. Historia is normally very shy and kind, and she possesses a sweet sensitivity. However, I've learned that her desire to be as kind as possible to her peers origininates not only from a desire to gain honour from them, but also from her need to be seen as a good person. This is something she values highly as a result of her childhood, in which she was denied both respect and approval from her family. As shown in the manga, Historia was raised to believe herself to have been an unfortunate and unwelcome mistake. The strongest manifestation of this is her often and severe suicidal tendencies in later chapters, where she desires merely to die in a manner where others will not hate her for having existed at all, and will be spoken off, and remembered in a positive light. Historia was born out of wedlock as the unwanted daughter to Lod Reiss (who is later revealed to be of royalty, thus confirming that Historia was born into royal blood), Historia was raised on an estate owned and administered by the Reiss kin and was primarily overseen in her childhood by her family. Her mother chose to be distant to her, always reading by herself and refusing to allow Historia to engage in any form of social interaction. As a consequence of this lack of exposure to the world around her and its' people, Historia was neglected by all members of her family, as was shown to be a curt rejection and refusal of parental obligation on the part of her mother. The only interactions she had with her kin were situations in which she obeyed their orders, and nothing more. An important factor in her isolation in growing up was the treatment of her by the other children on the estate and the surrounding lands, who constantly terrorized her. There was a particular moment in the manga that brought me to tears whilst reading. You'd think that this would likely be over a death of a certain character, and while many deaths in the manga were particularily hard-hitting for me, they weren't the cause of my tears whilst reading for the most part. Tears were shed in a flashback scene of Historia. It's in this scene where it is revealed that during her childhood, Historia read many books and other works of fiction that would often point out the traditional relationship between a mother and child. This caused Historia to question her relationship with her own mother, and later sparked a desire to instigate affectionate physical contact with her. This eventually to an attempt to hug her mother. Historia was brutally slapped away by her, and her mother then attacked her with verbal lament, questioning why she didn't kill Historia on the spot when she was born (thus further enforcing the fact that Historia was a 'mistake' child). Her mother's slaps left her with bruises and blood, yet Historia pushed past this and couldn't feel any pain, but rather happiness because it was the first time her mother had ever spoken to her. It was following this instance of abuse that Historia spent years not seeing her mother a single time. During this interlude of neglect, Historia came to terms with her her position in the Reiss household; she accepted the fact that she was nothing but a burden to her family, and that she would never be anything more than that. Historia lived an extremely lonely life from there on out whilst residing in the Reiss estate. She could only seek companionship with animals that lived amongst her. As if that chapter couldn't get any more depressing for me, it did. It really did. Following the fall of Wall Maria, the Reiss attempted to evacuate their household, until they suddenly found themselves surrounded by soldiers belonging to the Military Police, who then confronted Lod Reiss over the identity of Historia and her mother. Lod Reiss in turn, denied any relation to them. Historia's mother was then held back by a soldier and killed as she desperately attempted to deny being Historia's mother. Her last testament, before having her throat slit, was a cold remark to Historia; 'I wish I had never given birth to you'. It was after this in which Historia was captured by the Military Police and forced to become a member of the 104th Trainees...under the identity of Krista Lenz. After learning about her backstory and ultimately spending a good chunk of my time sobbing over it, I finally knew the truth behind Historia. It was then that I regretted ever considering her to be nothing more than a Mary Sue...I still regret it. Historia has spent her entire life wanting nothing more than to be accepted by the people of the world, and that is a perfectly normal thing to strive for. Historia is extremely brave to have been through everything she was forced to endure, yet still choose to be a good person. She has taught herself to remain kind in every given situation, and that isn't something she should be scolded for. Choosing to be an amazing person doesn't make Historia a Mary Sue; it makes her a good human being. In conclusion - Historia is one of my favorite characters in the series and easily one of my favorite female characters of all time. She absolutely isn't flawless, as clearly shown by her dark past. However, it's her flaws that make her such a brilliant girl and extremely intriguing character in general. I cannot deny that she is an empty, melancholy girl. It's the hard truth that Historia is completely uncertain of her true nature and personality, nor her purpose and meaning in the world. However, getting to know that side of Historia and earning the opportunity to see who she really was helped me develop a new appreciation for her. Historia is absolutely beautiful, inside and out. https://31.media.tumblr.com/78bd37e0456a46ad466f1904d0a68b46/tumblr_na0ggyzrDb1ttcmmzo1_r1_500.gif